Low power, space combined, phased array radar

ABSTRACT

A radar system including a plurality of mini radars may be conformable to a structure that it is attached or built into. A radar system includes a clock, a plurality of frequency modulated/continuous wave (FM/CW) radar units in signal communication with the clock and a processor in signal communication with the plurality of FM/CW radar units. Each of the plurality of FM/CW radar units includes a row of antenna elements.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 13/011,771 byVacanti et al., tiled Jan. 21, 2011 and entitled, “LOW POWER, SPACECOMBINED, PHASED ARRAY RADAR,” which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application 61/306,271 by Vacanti et al., filed Feb. 19,2010 and entitled, “LOW POWER, SPACE COMBINED, PHASED ARRAY RADAR”, theentire content of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Current radar applications, in particular marine radar, are expensive,have significant weight, and have less than optimal range resolution.Some applications require a simple mechanically scanned array and someapplications require electronic beam steering for high-speed review of ascanned volume. Also, these applications are ineffective at coveringexceptionally large scanned volumes, such as on unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs) where hemispheres of coverage are required with very low weight(a few pounds to a few tens of pounds) and very low aerodynamic drag.Previous design efforts have shown that active phased arrays (everyelement has its awn transmit, receive, amplitude, and phase control) areexpensive, complex, and heavy. Also, passive phased arrays with acentral high-powered. transmitter and passive low-pass phase shiftersare less complex and have many advantages, but they are inefficient withRF transmission losses on both transmit and receive sides, despite allefforts to control losses in the power distribution network.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a radar that will permit: 1) a simplefixed beam; 2) electronic beam steering via coherent phase locked loop(PLL) phase shifts among the elements or subarrays; and/or 3) digitalbeam forming via digital phase adjustment and amplitude weighting ofsamples. Digital beam farming permits beam steering and the potentialfor multiple simultaneous beams.

The present invention includes a plurality of mini radars that make theradar system conformable to the structure that it is attached or builtinto. Phase errors caused by arbitrary curvature of a vessel or fuselageor vehicle, etc., can be corrected at each distributed mini radar. Thephase error caused by the physical location of the mini-radar iscompensated by a phase or frequency offset in addition to the nominalphase shift needed for beam steering and amplitude toss due to angularoffset can be compensated by a digital amplitude multiplier.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred and alternative embodiments of the present invention arcdescribed in detail below with reference to the following drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a radar system formed in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a circuit design used in the systemshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a radar system formed in accordance with analternate embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a circuit design used in the systemshown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5-1 is a front plan view of a radar system in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5-2 is a top view of the radar system of FIG. 5-1;

FIG. 5-3 is a back plan view of the radar system of FIG. 5-1;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a first example radar system;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are block diagrams illustrating an elevation monopulseconfiguration; and

FIG. 9 is a top view of a vehicle with multiple radar systems describedin any of the previous figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary radar system 30 that includes multipleradar units 36 (mini frequency-modulated/continuous-wave (FM/CW) radarsor Linear FM Pulse Compression). Each of the radar units 36 is phaselocked to a master timing oscillator (a clock 34). Each radar unit 36can have its transmitted modulation phase or FFT Processed receivesignal adjusted (I&Q FFT Outputs multiplied by complex weight) such thata passive phase shifter function in a common phased array is performed.Also, output power from each of the radar units 36 is adjustable toallow amplitude taper on an array of antennas, to adjust beam steering,or both.

The system 30 includes a processor 40 that is connected to each of theradar units 36 and a display or other type of output device 44 that isin signal communication with the processor 40. Adjusting the relativephase of digital phase lock loops within each of the radar units 36permits electronic beam steering, electronic beam farming, or both.Also, an output level of transmitters within each of the radar units 36is adjustable by electronic programming, such that an amplitude taper isapplied across an antenna located within the radar units 36 to achievelow side lobe levels or multiple digitally formed beams.

FIG. 2 illustrates details of the radar unit 36. The radar unit 36includes a multichip module (MCM) 60 that includes Pulse Compression orFM/CW radar components such as that described in U.S. Pat. No.7,239,266, issued Jul. 3, 2007, which is herein incorporated byreference. The radar unit 36 also includes a direct digital synthesizer(DDS) 62, a programmable logic device (PLD) or a field-programmable gatearray (FPGA) controller 64, an intermediate frequency (IF) strip 72, ananalog-to-digital (A/D) converter 76, an external delay component 70, acirculator 66, and an antenna array 68 (see element or sub-array 160 inFIGS. 5-1 and 5-2). The FPGA controller 64 controls the DDS 62 and adigital attenuator 80 located within the MCM 60. The external delaycomponent 70 causes a delay of a signal produced by a voltage controloscillator (VCO) 82 and sends that signal to a first mixer 84 within theMCM 60. The first mixer 84 within the MCM 60 combines the signal delayedby the external delay component 70 with a signal received by the antennaarray 68 via the circulator 66. The output of the first mixer 84 is sentto the IF strip 72, that amplifies and applies a high pass filter and aband-limiting low-pass filter to the signal and sends the resultingsignal to the A/D converter 76, which converts the signal to digital andsends it to the processor 40. The MCM 60 produces a transmission signalthat is outputted by the antenna element or sub-array 68, 160 via thecirculator 66. The clock 34 is connected to the DDS 62 and a secondmixer 86 within the MCM 40. The second mixer 86 adds the output of theDDS 62 to the clock signal to produce a signal that is sent to aPhase-Frequency Detector (PM) 88 as a variable frequency reference afterfiltering. The PFD 88 compares the upconverted DDS signal with adivided-down signal from the output of the VCO 82. The difference infrequency and or phase between the two signals is converted into anerror voltage for delivery to a phased-locked loop (PLL) filter andbuffer amplifier 90 that produces a control signal for the VCO 82. Ifthe physical size of the phase lock loop buffer amplifier 90 or anypassive elements in filter are too large to be included in the MCM theymay be added externally to the MCM.

The FPGA controller 64 includes memory and or computational capabilityto generate the desired modulation waveforms. The FPGA controller 64connects to the DDS 62 and the digital attenuator 80 via a high-speedserial or parallel data bus.

The antenna element or sub-array 68, 160 is directly integrated with theother components of the radar unit 36 in order to provide a radar signalwith a very low voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) (less than 1.2:1)across an entire operating bandwidth. Also, phase noise of the radarunit 36 is not worse than approximately −100 dBc/Hz at 100 KHz offsetfrom the transmit frequency. The phase noise is cancelled at the firstmixer 84, due to the output of the external delay component 70. In otherwords, the time of arrival of energy reflected from an input port of theantenna element or sub-array 160 arrives at virtually the same time asthe local oscillator signal (signal outputted by the VCO 82 within theMCM 60).

The phase noise of the clock 34 is less than −145 dBc/Hz at 100 KHz fromthe clock frequency. The low phase noise of the clock 34 assures thatany multiplication of this phase noise within the MCM 60 remainsacceptably low and that the A/D clock supplied by a frequency dividerfrom the master clock 34 is achieved with exceptionally low jitter, thusassuring maximum possible signal-to-noise ratio.

The DDS 62 provides a sweep reference frequency and includes adigital-to-analog (D/A) converter having at least twelve bits for thelowest possible phase noise. FIG. 3 illustrates a radar system 100formed in accordance with an alternate embodiment of the presentinvention. The radar system 100 includes one or more radar units 102that are connected to a common clock, synthesizer, and controller 104.Like the radar system 30, the radar units 102 are connected to theprocessor 40, which is then in signal communication with the outputdevice 44.

As shown in FIG. 4, each of the radar units 102 includes the MCM 60, theexternal delay unit 70, the circulator 66, the antenna array 68, the IFstrip 72, and the AID converter 76. The connections of these componentsare similar to that of the radar unit 36 shown in FIG. 2. The clock,synthesizer, controller unit 104 includes the master clock 34, the DDS62, and the FPGA controller 64 that are connected in a similar manner asthat described with regard to the radar units 36, as shown in FIG. 2.Because the radar units 102 share one DDS and FPGA controllers withother radar units 102, digital steering of radar signals produced by theplurality of radar units 102 cannot be performed like they can in theradar system 30 described above. This configuration is used where atransmitted beam steering is not required but multiple digitally formedreceive beams are required. The single source of modulation and clockreference produces a single beam that may be divided into sub-regions bymultiple receive beams formed as shown in FIG. 6 or 8.

FIGS. 5-1, 5-2, and 5-3 illustrate an exemplary layout of thirteen radarunits 168 coupled to corresponding vertical antenna arrays 158. In thisembodiment, each of the vertical antenna arrays 158 includes fourantenna elements 160 (i.e., microstrip patch elements). The verticalantenna arrays 158 are separated by an isolation wall 162. An exemplaryisolation wall is formed of a carbon fiber material or a comparablematerial for performing 25 to 30 dB isolation between the verticalantenna arrays 158. The antenna elements 160 and the isolation walls 162are mounted to an antenna circuit board 164.

Each of the radar units 168 is mounted to radar circuit boards. Theradar circuit boards are mounted to the antenna circuit board 164 on aside that is opposite the antenna elements 160. Located above the radarunits 168 is a circuit component 172. Electrical traces connect theantenna elements 160 through the antenna circuit board 164 to theirrespective radar units 168 or the circuit component 172. The circuitcomponent 172 includes the master clock 34, such as that shown in FIGS.1 and 2, or includes the master clock 34, the DDS 162, and the FPGAcontroller 64, such as that shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

Multiple transmit beams may also be formed simultaneously. The multipletransmit beams are formed by combining subsections of the availableoverall array to form individual beams. For example, if there are 12array elements in azimuth fed by 12 “mini-radars” then one beam isproduced on the left from the left most 6 elements and another beam isproduced on the right with the other half. A beam will be formedindependently for each subset of associated modules.

Beam transmission can take on a dynamic quality. For example, for ashort period one beam is transmitted then in the next moment two beamsare transmitted independently. The available power associated with eachtransmit beam is reduced in direct proportion to the number of beamsthat are formed. The receive beams that can be formed are constrained toexist within the illumination of each transmit beam. So the larger thenumber of transmit beams the greater the beamwidth and the more scanningvolume is available within the beam. Technically the digital beamforming can create a beam that points in any desired direction, howeverif no transmitter power is radiated in the steered direction then notarget power can be received from that direction. There may be otherreasons for steering to look Where no signals were transmitted. Forexample, it is possible to locate the direction of a jammer by locatingthe max detected power, or to listen to a broadcast data transmissionfrom a source that is not a radar. The present invention allows forsimultaneous datalinking and radar operations.

FIG. 6 illustrates a plurality of subarray antennas 202 similar to thosedescribed above, each of which is connected to a separate FM/CW or PulseCompression radar 204 with a master clock 206 that sends a clock signalto each of the FM/CW or Pulse Compression radars 204, This is similar tothe radar system 100 shown in FIG. 3. A phase and amplitude controller208 (e.g., DSP Controller) sends phase and amplitude control signals toeach of the FM/CW or Pulse Compression radars 204, similar to that shownin FIGS. 3 and 4 at Point A. The outputs of the FM/CW radars 204 aresent to a processor (e.g., the processor 40). The processor performs afast-Fourier transform (FFT) of the received signals from the FM/CWradars 204 to produce spectral I and Q values. The processor thenperforms one or more digital beam-forming processes (see blocks 212-216)that electronically steer the beam by re-using the original FFT I&Q datawith appropriate complex weights and summation.

The quadrature baseband I and Q values can be used to represent a radiosignal as a complex vector (phasor) with real and imaginary parts. Twocomponents are required so that both positive and negative frequencies(relative to the channel center frequency) can be represented asfollows:

-   -   s(t)=x(t)+j y(t)    -   s(t) is the complex baseband signal    -   x(t)=i(t) is the real part    -   y(t)=−q(t) is the imaginary part    -   j is √{square root over (−1)}.

For beamforming, the complex baseband signals are multiplied by thecomplex weights to apply the phase shift and amplitude scaling requiredfor each antenna element.

-   -   w_(k)=a_(k) e^(isin(θk))    -   w_(k)=a_(k) cos(θ_(k))+j a_(k) sin(θ_(k))    -   w_(k) is complex weight for the k^(th) antenna element    -   a_(k) is the relative amplitude of the weight    -   θ_(k) is the phase shift of the weight (i.e., differential phase        shift), θ_(k)=360(d/λ) sin(θ),    -   d is the spacing between antenna elements,    -   λ is the freespace wavelength, and    -   θ is in the desired scan angle in degrees.

The amplitude weight of each element (k) is determined by a desiredtaper function. There are many amplitude tapers that are used across anarray. A simple example is a Cosine on a pedestal—where “0” is thecenter of the array with a max weight of 1 plus the pedestal offset andthe remaining values are scaled as from cos(φ) plus the pedestal offset:Amp_(k)=cos(φ)+offset pedestal.

A general-purpose digital signal processor (DSP) can implement thecomplex multiplication for each antenna element:

s _(k)(t)w _(k) =a _(k) {[x _(k)(t) cos(θ_(k))−y _(k)(t) sin(θ_(k))]+j[_(xk)(t) sin(θ_(k))+y _(k)(t) cos(θ_(k))]}

FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate a radar system 280 that performs elevationmonopulse, thereby allowing more accurate elevation detection oftargets. The radar system 280 includes subarray antennae, FM/CW or PulseCompression radars, a Master clock similar to FIG. 6. The radar system280 also includes a combiner 288 for each pair of antenna elements 160that is located in each antenna element array 158. The system shown inFIGS. 7 and 8 can perform EL monopulse. The phase and amplitude controlis relative to each adjacent subarray column not within the each smallsub-array 160. The output of each the power combiners 288 is submittedto a 180-degree hybrid component 290 that produces an elevation deltachannel signal and a summation channel signal. The sum channel signal isalso connected to a circulator (e.g. the circulator 66) of the radarsystem 280. Another receiver (not shown) receives the output of theElevation Delta Channel. The Sum Channel is used to both transmit thesignal and receive the main sum signal. The hybrid is located within theradar unit 168. A processor performs target detection using thecollection of elevation summation beams from the sum channels of the180-degree hybrid components 290. Also, the processor performs targettracking using an azimuth monopulse tracking via digital beam formingalgorithm during receive processing and elevation monopulse tracking bycomparing phase and amplitude of the signal in the summation channelwith the phase and amplitude of the elevation delta channel.

The Azimuth and Elevation Monopulse Beam former algorithm can beexpressed mathematically for Elevation Monopulse as follows: vector sumfrom 0 to N/2 of the upper half of all antenna elements minus the vectorsum of N/2 to N of the lower half of the elements shifted by 180degrees. Similarly, the Azimuth monopulse tracking beam is formed by thevector sum of the left half of the array and subtracting the vector sumof the right half of the array elements phase shifted by 180 degrees.

As shown in FIG. 9, several fix-mounted, electronically scanned antennas350 coupled to a processor, as described above, are placed around apilot house of a (marine or land-based) vehicle 320 to provide panoramicor 360-degree coverage with very high range resolution of a few feet toidentify small skiffs at sea and alert security details onboard, etc.Combatants cannot readily see the simple thin active antenna structuresthat do not mechanically move and do not attract attention. Combatantsare known to shoot at and attempt to destroy visible satellite antennas,rotating marine radar antennas. Other exemplary radar applicationsinclude, but are not limited to: 1) covert littoral small craftoperations; 2) marine barge radars used within the very narrow confinesof (e.g. European and U.S.) rivers, locks, and canals where marine radarcarriage is mandated; and 3) antipirate applications onboard cargoships.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed, as noted above, many changes can be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope ofthe invention is not limited by the disclosure of the preferredembodiment. Instead, the invention should be determined entirely byreference to the claims that follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: generating, by a clock on afirst side of an antenna circuit board, a single clock the antennacircuit board comprising at least one isolation wall; sending the singleclock signal to a plurality of radar units mounted on the first side ofthe antenna circuit board, each of the plurality of radar unitscomprising a frequency modulated/continuous wave (FM/CW) or PulseCompression radar unit, each radar unit of the plurality of radar unitscomprising a column of two or more antenna elements mounted on a secondside of the antenna circuit board, wherein the at least one isolationwall of the antenna circuit board is located between a pair of adjacentcolumns of the antenna elements, and wherein the first side of theantenna circuit board is opposite the second side of the antenna circuitboard; generating at least one control signal at a first processor insignal communication with the plurality of radar units; transmittingradar signals from the plurality of radar units based on the at leastone control signal; receiving radar reflection signals at the pluralityof radar units; and sending the radar reflection signals to a secondprocessor in signal communication with the plurality of radar units. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting radar signals compriseselectrically steering the radar signals based on the at least onecontrol signal and receiving radar reflection signals compriseselectrically steering the radar signals when the antenna elements areviewing.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting radar signalscomprises vertically steering the radar signals based on the at leastone control signal.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein verticallysteering comprises: receiving signals at one or more antenna elements ofa first subarray of antenna elements in at least one radar unit of theplurality of radar units; receiving signals at one or more antennaelements of a second subarray of antenna elements in the at least oneradar unit, wherein the one or more antenna elements of the firstsubarray are vertically separated from the one or more antenna elementsof the second subarray; summing signals received from the first andsecond subarrays; subtracting signals received from the first and secondsubarrays; and identifying elevation of a target based on the summed anddifference signals.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting radarsignals comprises digitally forming one or more beams that can betransmitted in any direction.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein theantenna elements comprise microstrip elements.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein at least one radar unit of the plurality of radar units isconfigured to operate as an elevation monopulse unit.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising, transmitting the radar signals from theplurality of radar units as one or more digitally formed beams in anydirection based at least in part on the at least one control signal. 9.The method of claim 1, wherein the first processor is located on thefirst side of the antenna circuit board.
 10. The method of claim 9,wherein the first processor comprises memory and a direct digitalsynthesizer located on the first side of the antenna circuit board,wherein the first processor is configured to generate the at least onecontrol signal using the memory and the direct digital synthesizer. 11.The method of claim 1, wherein the antenna circuit board comprises afirst antenna circuit board of a plurality of antenna circuit boards,wherein each of the plurality of antenna circuit boards is positioned toform a respective beam in a different respective direction the methodfurther comprising: sending a clock signal generated by a clock on afirst side of a second antenna circuit board of the plurality of antennacircuit boards to a plurality of radar units mounted on the first sideof the second antenna circuit board; transmitting radar signals from theplurality of radar units mounted on the first side of the second antennacircuit board based on at least one control signal generated at a thirdprocessor in signal communication with the plurality of radar unitsmounted on the first side of the second antenna circuit board; andsending radar reflection signals received at the plurality of radarunits mounted on the first side of the second antenna circuit board to afourth processor in signal communication with the plurality of radarunits mounted on the first side of the second antenna circuit board. 12.The method of claim 11, wherein each of the plurality of antenna circuitboards is positioned about a central axis to form the respective beam inthe different respective direction.
 13. The method of claim 12, whereinthe different respective directions associated with the plurality ofantenna circuit boards comprise degrees of azimuth about the centralaxis.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein the different respectivedirections associated with the plurality of antenna circuit boardscomprise 360 degrees of azimuth about the central axis.
 15. The methodof claim 12, wherein the different respective directions associated withthe plurality of antenna circuit boards comprise degrees of elevationabout the central axis.
 16. The method of claim 11, wherein the firstprocessor and the third processor are a first single processor and thesecond processor and the fourth processor are a second single processor.17. The method of claim 11, wherein each of the plurality of antennacircuit boards is positioned about a central axis to form the respectivebeam in the different respective direction to provide three hundredsixty degrees of coverage around the central axis.
 18. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the plurality of antenna circuit boards comprise apair of antenna circuit boards respectively positioned on either side ofa central axis, wherein a first antenna circuit board of the pair ofantenna circuit boards is configured to point a first beam in a firstdirection that is offset from the central axis by a first angle in aclockwise direction with respect to the central axis, and wherein asecond antenna circuit board of the pair of antenna circuit boards isconfigured to point a second beam in a second direction that is offsetfrom the central axis by a second angle in a counterclockwise directionwith respect to the central axis.
 19. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising, prior to transmitting radar signals from the plurality ofradar units mounted on the first side of the second antenna circuitboard based on the at least one control signal generated at the thirdprocessor in signal communication with the plurality of radar unitsmounted on the first side of the second antenna circuit board, ceasingto transmit radar signals from the plurality of radar units mounted onthe first side of the first antenna circuit board.
 20. A systemcomprising: means for generating, by a clock on a first side of anantenna circuit board of the system, a single clock signal, the antennacircuit board comprising at least one isolation wall; means for sendingthe single clock signal to a plurality of radar units mounted on thefirst side of the antenna circuit board, each of the plurality of radarunits comprising a frequency modulated/continuous wave (FM/CW) or PulseCompression radar unit, each radar unit of the plurality of radar unitscomprising a column of two or more antenna elements mounted on a secondside of the antenna circuit board, wherein the at least one isolationwall of the antenna circuit board is located between a pair of adjacentcolumns of the antenna elements, and wherein the first side of theantenna circuit board is opposite the second side of the antenna circuitboard; means for generating at least one control signal at a firstprocessor in signal communication with the plurality of radar units;means for transmitting radar signals from the plurality of radar unitsbased on the least one control signal; means for receiving radarreflection signals at the plurality of radar units; and means forsending the radar reflection signals to a second processor in signalcommunication with the plurality of radar units.